Ascension of the elder

"Nani?!"

Susan responded with a look of disbelief that Kyle would blame her for something when she wasn't even there, what had she done to deserve the blame for this?

"Susan I've already said before no nani."

Kyle responded to her which made her upset so she turned away with a pout and began to sing to herself to alleviate this sense of betrayal.

"All around me are familiar faces, worn out places....."

"Just ignore her anyway let's get moving we have work to do Clara, Miranda and Elena you'll be under the command of Faye until this is finished. Bruno you're with Ash and Alena can you remain on station at the infirmary to look after any injured personnel."

None of his team currently had fixed duties but during their escape from the arena they had shown they could handle themselves so Kyle thought it would be for the best if they were seconded to some of the other forces.

All of them nodded and headed out with their assigned leaders. Harris and Landon were speaking about the deployment of the guards and which would be the best places for them to be located for the counter attack. Maria was also with them and was giving her own opinion every so often, even though she didn't argue her points were well made and accurate.

Harris was surprised with Maria's tactical mind and was thinking back on the last few years and realised he had been so easily manipulated by his younger brother with his rumours and lies. Clyde was also still in the meeting room as he didn't know what he should do.

Kyle could see Clyde's awkwardness so he decided to throw him a bone.

"Father, Clyde has a good analytical mind I think he would be well suited as a tactician can you use this opportunity to guide him?"

Landon could instantly tell Kyle wanted to maintain a good relationship with his cousin hence why he chose to include him in their planning and he was also implying that when he took over the family Clyde would have a similar position as Harris currently held.

"Of course Kyle that's a good idea, come on Clyde you need to learn these things."

With that sorted Kyle indicated for Willem and Susan to follow him. Once they had left the planning room Susan returned to her usual personality leaving Willem a little wrong footed.

"So what's up little Kyle? Who we gonna mess up right now I'm hankering for some spankering!"

"Not quite yet Susan, can you take Willem on your falcon to see his mother and sister please. Willem I know you want to see them but remember they've been really hurt so you need to take this slow."

"I know Kyle and thanks for this."

Willem responded with a catch in his voice as this would be the first time he had seen his mother for as long as he could remember. Before he could get too worked up however Susan came to the rescue with a heavy slap to the back.

"Okay kiddo let's not get all teary eyed you need to man up and grow a pair, let's get a jolly on I don't want to muss the fun."

With that she dragged away Willem towards the perches of the falcons. Kyle still wondered sometimes if Susan was a fool or a genius but he decided that she was probably a foolish genius at best.

Making his own way to his room he opened his armoury and began tooling up for the battle that was to come. He would of course take his favourite katana but what else should he bring for this operation decisions, decisions.

He finally settled on some more throwing knives and a heavy mace this was in case he encountered people who were heavily armoured and as the katana was more of a slashing weapon the mace would work better if he needed to break through their armour.

He also wore some scale armour he had the boys whip up as he was currently still growing and he couldn't always have them re-forge plate armour when he had a growth spurt. Scale mail could be adjusted and gaps could be filled in with beast leather meaning he could leave it for longer between adjustments.

Happy with his decision he headed to the main hall to meet with Ash and his men. Reaching the entrance he saw that the team was already present with Ash and Dylan front and centre. Bruno was standing with Ash and to Kyle's surprise he saw the Daryl's standing with Dylan.

"Dylan have you taken these men as your squad?"

Kyle asked curiously as these weren't long serving members and hadn't seen much combat so Kyle wondered why Dylan would have these men as his followers.

"Yep we've been training together so I think they'll be good but more importantly they have similar names to me."

Kyle could only look at Dylan with a blank expression for a moment before responding.

"Dylan is that really your reason?"

Dylan nodded emphatically while the Daryl's were nodding from behind him. Kyle could only see this as three idiots following the lead idiot.

"Well do whatever you want, Ash I want three teams you'll take the main force and will go on my signal to hit the front. Dylan you'll take your squad along with another squad to cover the rear of the building. I'll take a squad with me to take out the cult leadership. Luke your squad will be with me now let's get going."

With that Kyle headed out and grabbed his steed from the stable followed by the more than 170 in number 'death watch'. While this number was now largely made up of conscripts they had seized from the merc bands within the city their strength was not something to be underestimated.

The 'breath of deliverance' cultivation technique they were now using had pushed their strength far over that of the other mercs. With the understanding that as long as they were diligent in their training they could rise high they had begun training in earnest.

This battle while harsh would be a good test for Kyle's expanded forces as they would have to work together to destroy this enemy. Kyle would step in if they were in trouble but he hoped that they would be able to learn from this experience and grow with it.

As this crowd of armoured warriors galloped through the city a few people were peering out from their homes or from within the safe houses Kyle had provided. Seeing these men in gleaming armour with vicious looking weapons of all manner of forms they couldn't help but think to themselves.

"Someone is going to be boned."

Kyle himself was thinking about the strength of this force and was thinking of ways to improve their strengths and the thing he found himself looking at the most was their mounts. If he could acquire ground based demonic beasts of greater strength he would have armoured cavalry as well as having air support from the falcons.

While Kyle was day dreaming they continued rushing through the quiet streets. It looked as though there was a lull in the fighting as the various groups had disengaged to gather their strengths for another push.

Kyle knew Faye would put this quiet before the storm to good use and would begin he campaign against the merc bands, while One would continue hitting the gangs keeping them from marshalling their forces.

While it was relatively quiet there was still the occasional fight going on so as they were passing a squad would break off to assist the guards or the 'shadow hand' before returning to the column and continuing to their destination.

As they were approaching the old tannery a smell of copper and something else which was best left unsaid flew towards them on the breeze. The men who had experienced war before recognised this smell as it signalled they were approaching a killing zone. Kyle also knew this smell from the times he had been on missions recently, Bruno had also gone with Kyle a few times so he had also experienced death but he still had not developed Kyle's mind set yet.

Cresting a low rise they could see into the yard of the tannery and were appalled by what they saw down there. Body parts were strewn across the ground with blood pooling in the dirt, it looked like the worst photo's you saw from war zones with no regard for the dignity of those who had died.

The most appalling thing however was the cultists who were in the yard, they were gnawing on the parts left around in the yard with no concern or regard for what they were doing. This was the true face of the cults, they were worse than any beast and in Kyle's opinion were fully beyond redemption.

Bruno was heaving to the side while even the other battle hardened veterans had pale faces while looking anywhere else. Kyle turned to Ash before speaking.

"Ash what do you think we should do?"

"We should do what is right and proper."

Hearing Ash's response Kyle stood up in his stirrups and shouted

"Give them no quarter, send them to hell!"